


For Which Way to Turn

by lco123



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: F/F, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-11 19:00:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13530585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lco123/pseuds/lco123
Summary: Grace rolls her eyes. “Look, Mom, I know you’re trying to help. But this isn’t the same as you and Mom.”





	For Which Way to Turn

**Author's Note:**

> This can be read as a companion piece / future glimpse into the world of Take Me to Your River, my current Spanna fic, but it can also be read as a general post-series future fic. (Very mild spoilers for the eventual ending of Take Me to Your River.)

Emily hears yelling on the front porch before the door is even open. She takes a breath, trying to steady herself. 

It’s going to be one of _those_ afternoons. 

They haven’t had one in a while. Grace and Lily fought bitterly all throughout middle school, but to Emily’s surprise and relief, they’ve mellowed out quite a bit in high school, even more so now that they’re sophomores. Alison’s theory is that they’ve realized how much they need one another, that they've recognized the value of an ally. Emily doesn’t really care about the reason, she’s just grateful for the change.

Well, apparently she counted her blessings a little too soon.

The door flies open, and then two pairs of feet—one adorned with Doc Martins, the other with totally impractical Steve Madden sandals—are stomping into the house.

“Oh my _god_ ,” Lily grits out, her tone suggesting that this less-than-civil conversation has been going on for a while. “I didn’t even tell her that. I didn’t tell her anything!”

“That’s bullshit!” Grace replies harshly. “You must have!”

Emily feels a prickle go up the back of her neck. She doesn’t like that Grace is swearing, especially at her sister. But the tears in her voice betray the sharp words.

Something unusual is going on. It’s Lily who’s usually the dramatic one, fond of slamming doors after impassioned declarations that nobody listens to her. She gets that from Alison, Emily’s sure. Lily’s an actress; theatricality comes with the territory, and it certainly came in handy when she killed it as Angelica Schuyler in the spring production of _Hamilton,_ the first sophomore to get cast as a lead in a decade. 

Grace, on the other hand, was more than happy to be assistant stage manager. She’s quiet and thoughtful, more likely to curl up with a notebook and her headphones than loudly sing show tunes at the piano, like her sister. Spencer dubbed her “Gracious Gracie” when she was just a few years old, and the nickname holds up. Grace has always been easy; helpful and incredibly kind. The only trade-off is that Emily never quite knows what’s going on under the surface.

It’s hard. Lily automatically stands out because of her personality, and Henry is the baby. That leaves Grace stuck somewhere in the middle.

Emily puts her hands on her hips as she enters the foyer, trying to affect her best Mom stance. “What’s going on?” she asks evenly.

Lily crosses her arms. “Zooey got a boyfriend.”

Grace’s mouth drops open and her eyes fill with more tears. She shouts a muffled phrase that sounds like some combination of " _How dare you!"_ and " _I hate you!"_ before rushing past Emily and up the stairs.

Emily sighs. “Zooey got a boyfriend?” she repeats to Lily.

Lily nods. “You know why Grace is upset, Mom. I mean, it sucks. But she thinks I, like, _told_ Zooey, because I guess Zooey is acting weird around her.”

“Did you? Tell her?”

They don’t have to clarify what that means. Zooey has been Grace and Lily’s best friend for close to five years, and Emily knows that Grace has been in love with Zooey for at least half of that time. She and Ali have talked about it, aware that the situation will need to be addressed at some point in the near future. But Emily remembers the way it felt to be fifteen and in love with her best friend, and the only thing that could have made that worse would have been her mother asking her about it.

“ _No_ ,” Lily answers emphatically. “God, do you really think I’d do that?”

“I don’t,” Emily assures her, tapping Lily’s elbow lightly. “I just haven’t seen her this upset in a while.”

Lily scoffs. “Well, you obviously haven’t been paying attention.” She must note the look of hurt on Emily’s face, because she sheepishly adds, “Sorry. That was mean.”

“Is it true?”

Lily shakes her head. “No. Not really. It’s just…she’s been kind of sad.”

Emily nods in acknowledgement. “She’s been quieter lately.”

Lily gets that squirmy look that she used to have whenever she lied about brushing her teeth. “I don’t…I don’t like seeing her like that.”

Emily feels her heart simultaneously break and soften. “I know, sweetheart.” She takes a step forward and pulls Lily into a hug. For the first time in a few months, her daughter hugs back. “I don’t like it either.”

Emily lets Grace cool off for another half hour. She gets dinner prepped and relays the situation via text to Ali, who’s at the orthodontist with Henry.

 _Oh babe_ , Ali texts back. _How can I help?_

 _Bring home wine_ , Emily replies. And then, _We’ll be ok._

She heads upstairs once the vegetables are cooked and Lily has been coaxed into starting her math homework.

“Knock, knock,” she calls through Grace’s bedroom door.

“Come in,” Grace replies stuffily. She’s sitting on her bed when Emily walks in, her arms wrapped tightly around a fluffy green pillow like it’s her shield. Her eyes are red and puffy, but she doesn’t appear to be crying anymore.

“Are you mad at me?” she asks.

Emily gingerly sits down on the foot of her bed. “About the stomping and the swearing? I’m not thrilled, but if your mom and I offered punishments based on that kind of behavior, your sister would permanently be grounded.”

That at least gets a half smile out of Grace. Emily squeezes her toe.

“So,” she begins. “I hear that Zooey has a boyfriend.”

“Yeah,” Grace says in a small voice. “Xavier. He played Lafayette.”

“Ah.” Emily’s been a little out of the loop about the girls’ classmates since leaving her job at Rosewood High, but she has a pretty clear picture in her mind of Xavier. He was wildly charismatic on stage, and Emily’s not at all surprised that Zooey would be interested in him. 

She keeps that opinion to herself.

“You _know_ , I guess,” Grace murmurs, “why I’m…feeling like this.”

“I do,” Emily acknowledges, because there’s really no point in beating around the bush, now.

Grace offers her a pained expression. “Is it super obvious?”

“No,” Emily replies. A necessary lie. “But I happen to relate to your situation, so the signs are easy for me to read.”

Grace rolls her eyes. “Look, Mom, I know you’re trying to help. But this isn’t the same as you and Mom.”

It never fails to make Emily smile, hearing herself and Ali both referred to as _Mom_ in practically the same sentence. They never found another word that felt right, so it’s always been that way: Mom and Mom. Somehow the inflection makes it clear which one of them the kids are talking about.

“I think it might be,” she says softly. 

“You guys had it easy. You fell in love when you were in high school, and that was it.” Grace jabs at the hole in her jeans. “It’s not going to be that way for me.”

If she was having this conversation with anyone but her daughter, Emily would burst out laughing, because  _easy_  couldn't be farther from the truth when it comes to her and Alison. But Grace doesn't need to hear that, especially right now. She and her siblings know fragments of their mothers' story, just enough for it to hold together. That's by design. Emily and Alison decided long ago that as much as they could help it, the nightmares would stop with the two of them. 

“I fell in love with your mom when we were in high school, that’s true,” Emily states. “But it was a long time before I knew if she felt the same way. Back then, back when I was your age, the scariest thing in the world was her finding out. And the other scariest thing in the world was her never finding out. Every day it was like these two parts of myself were at war. And then…”

“Then what?”

Emily looks into her daughter’s beautiful, terrified eyes. “She would hold my hand, or smile at me, and it was like nothing else mattered. I would have given anything to turn my feelings off. But I couldn’t, no matter how hard I tried.” She tilts her head to the side. “Does that sound familiar?”

Grace nods slowly.

“I can’t promise that it’ll stop hurting right away,” Emily continues, “and I do know that what your mom and I have is very special and rare. But I also know that our family is resilient, and no matter how you feel right now, you’re not alone."

“Thanks, Mom,” Grace breathes. “Can I have a little time before dinner? I swear I’ll do my homework.”

“Of course,” Emily tells her. “You know, you can take the night off from homework. I have a feeling your English teacher will give you a pass.”

Grace chuckles lightly and Emily rises from the bed, dropping a kiss to Grace’s forehead. “My Gracie girl. I love you so much.”

“I love you, too," Grace whispers.

Emily heads back downstairs, immensely grateful to see Alison and Henry coming in the door.

“Mom!” Henry exclaims. “They put rubber-bands on my braces! Look!” He opens his mouth wide, giving Emily a full view.

“Wow!” Emily replies.

“Gross,” Lily comments from the couch.

Ali slides past Henry to give Emily a one-armed hug. “How’s everything going?” she asks with mild concern.

“Okay,” Emily replies, sinking into the embrace. “I’ll fill you in later.”

“Mom, I finished my homework,” Lily directs to Alison.

“All three chapters?”

“Mmm hmm. Can we listen to _Wicked_ on the big speakers?”

Henry makes a retching noise, but Ali lightly bops him on the nose. “None of that, mister. We listened to your music the whole way home.  _Wicked_ it is.”

Lily squeals with delight and gets the music set up while Ali heads to the kitchen with a grocery bag in hand. Emily trails behind her, smiling when Ali pulls two bottles of wine from the bag.

“Big glasses tonight?” Alison asks.

“Is that even a question?”

Ali laughs and pulls the large wine glasses down from the shelf as Kristin Chenoweth’s voice starts blaring from the speakers. Henry loudly complains but is singing along by the end of the opening number, and by the time Emily is warming up food Lily and Henry have both joined her and Ali in the kitchen.

Alison hums along to the music, bumping Emily’s hip as they work side-by-side. Emily presses a kiss to her cheek. “There’s no one in the world that I’d rather do this with.”

Ali grins. “Right back at you, babe.”

“Hey, guys,” comes Grace’s soft voice from behind them. Emily turns around. “ _Wicked_ again?”

“You know it!” Lily replies brightly, grabbing Grace’s hand. “Come on, you love this part!”

Grace rolls her eyes. “You’re embarrassing,” she mutters, but there’s a sparkle back in her eyes, and Emily knows that her daughters’ perfectly-timed duet of “What is This Feeling?” is forthcoming.

“Dinner and a show,” Ali comments, even though this happens nearly every night.

“Yeah,” Emily replies, squeezing her wife’s hand. “How’d we get so lucky?”


End file.
